Unknown Origin
by ScopesMonkey
Summary: A mysterious young Cardassian woman arrives unexpectedly on DS9.
1. Chapter 1

_Author's note:_ This is set 6 years after the end of the television series. I've never actually read any of the post-series DS9 novels, so some things may be wrong… I've tried to be as consistent as I can, mostly on information I've gleaned from RavenDove's Lily Plague story (read it! It's great!). Please forgive any errors. Any corrections are greatly appreciated.

_Disclaimer_: All things legally Trek belong to Paramount; all new settings, characters, and situations belong to me. Do not use without permission.

1

"Captain, I'm picking up a ship on sensors."

Kira looked up quickly from her work.

"What kind of ship?", she asked, circling around the console at which she had been working to stand by the ensign at the com.

"It– appears to be Cardassian, sir," he replied, frowning. "But it's not a military vessel. It's too small."

"On screen," Kira ordered.

The viewscreen jumped to life, and, replacing the image of the stars that lay beyond the Bajoran system was the image of a small, battered-looking Cardassian shuttle. It was limping toward the station, or at least appeared to be from her point of view.

"Hail them," she said.

The ensign nodded and sent out a hail, but shook his head after a moment.

"No reply, sir."

"Life signs."

"I'm picking up one, a Cardassian. It's pretty weak, sir."

Kira nodded curtly and turned to her strategic operations officer.

"It is on course for the station, although it appears badly damaged," Dax reported.

"Can you get a tractor beam on it?", Kira asked.

"It will be within range in less than a minute."

"As soon as it is, catch it. Keep an eye on its weapon's systems; I don't want to be taken by surprise." She paused, tapping her combadge. "Kira to Bashir. Meet me at docking port four. Medical emergency."

"Acknowledged," came Bashir's voice over the com system.

"Kira to Security. Send two officers and meet me at docking port four. We have a Cardassian on our hands."

* * *

The two security officers stood on either side of Kira and Bashir, their weapons aimed at the docking port doors as the ship was pulled into the moorings and secured. Bashir had his tricorder out and was scanning, a frown on his face.

"Whoever's in there, Captain, I don't think they're any threat," the doctor said.

"I don't want to take any chances," Kira replied.

"Agreed," Ro Laren said from Kira's other side. "We'll go in first."

Bashir looked displeased.

"If that person is injured–"

"They made it this far, doctor. I'm not going to risk you for the life of an errant Cardassian whose motives we don't know," Kira interjected.

Bashir's frowned deepened but he said nothing more as security released the doors and entered the ship, weapons at the ready. Ro glanced around quickly, then called over her shoulder:

"It's all right! And you'd better come in, doctor!"

Bashir hurried in, followed by Kira.

The captain was greeted by the sight a young Cardassian woman slumped in her chair, over the command console of the tiny ship. It looked like both she and her shuttle had taken quite a beating; there was steam hissing from broken vents, and a small fire in the navigational control system, which the security officers quickly stifled. Bashir eased the woman back up, very gently, and Kira was shocked to see that the young woman was really a girl, probably no more than fifteen years old.

"Bashir to infirmary: I need a stretcher and some help down here," the doctor called over the com system, then looked up at Kira. "She'll be fine; she hasn't suffered any serious injury."

Her superficial wounds were enough to concern Kira. The girl was bleeding from a number of cuts, her face was badly bruised, and, by the way Bashir was handling her, it appeared that her left arm was broken. Carefully, the doctor eased the girl into his arms and lay her down on the floor of the shuttle to better examine her.

"Secure the shuttle," Kira ordered her officers. "I want anything suspicious in here found and identified. And get an engineering team down here, too. I want the computer system examined. I want to know where she was before coming here, and any information on what happened to her and why, and what she's doing in Federation space."

Ro nodded as the medical team came in. Nurse Jabara knelt down and helped Bashir lift the girl onto the stretcher.

"Easy, now," Bashir said. "There we are."

The girl stirred slightly, and Kira's eyes snapped back to her, but she didn't awaken.

"Keep me informed, Julian," the captain said.

"Of course," the doctor replied, and led his team away, the girl's unconscious form resting on the hovering stretcher.

Kira turned her attention back to the nearly disabled shuttle and crossed her arms, pursing her lips unhappily. A small Cardassian shuttle with a Cardassian girl in Federation space.

And it had started out as such a dull day, too.

* * *

Kira entered the infirmary and found Bashir in a testing area, examining some results with the aid of the computer. He looked up and nodded at her when she stepped into the small room.

"How is she?", the captain asked.

"Still unconscious, but otherwise, no worse for the wear. I haven't tried reviving her; God knows she could probably use some rest."

Kira frowned.

"But she'll be all right?"

"Oh, yes. Although, there are some things I need to talk to you about concerning her."

Kira stepped up beside him.

"What is it?"

"I found an anomaly," Bashir said. "Some of her reproductive organs are absent."

Kira blinked.

"Excuse me?", she asked.

"She isn't able to have children. Look at these scans. You see here, she has the necessary organs to regulate her hormonal cycles, so she has the normal Cardassian female chemistry in that respect, but she's lacking the organs necessary to actually support a child."

Baffled, Kira stared at the medical scans.

"Is that something that can happen naturally?"

"In humans it can, although it's extremely rare, especially now, with gene suppression therapy. I suppose it could happen naturally in Cardassians, although I have no real idea."

"But?", Kira prompted.

Bashir sighed.

"But I'm not sure. I checked her body for evidence that she had these organs surgically removed, but I see no signs of that. What I do see signs of, however, is genetic tampering."

Kira raised her eyes quickly to meet the doctor's.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not sure yet. I've checked her very thoroughly for genetic manipulation, and, although I am certain it's happened, I cannot find anything definitive, except of course, the reproductive system. But I can't even tell for certain if that was genetically modified."

"What made you look for it in the first place?", Kira asked.

Bashir shrugged and gave her a humourless half smile.

"Medical instinct. Captain, in every respect, this girl is a Cardassian, but something doesn't sit right with me. Something has been done to her; I'm sure of that. There are hints of it throughout her body, but when I examine suspicious sequences carefully, I find nothing unusual."

Kira looked back at the computer display.

"If someone has altered her genetic structure, they seem to have done a good job of it, then."

Bashir nodded.

"Better than I've ever seen," he said. "And believe me, I know a lot about this."

"Keep looking," Kira advised with a sigh. "The engineering team is still searching the ship and going over the records."

"Well, hopefully between us, we can figure out something."

"Can I go in and see her?"

"I don't see why not. She's not responsive, though."

Kira nodded and headed toward the doorway, stepping into the small room where the Cardassian girl was resting. She looked better now, with her bruises gone, her cuts sealed, and her broken arm repaired and resting in a sling to keep it still while she was unconscious.

Kira approached the bed and looked down. Healed, the girl didn't look any older than she had when Kira had first seen her. Again, the Bajoran wondered what in the world a Cardassian adolescent was doing so far from home, and why she had arrived at DS9 unconscious and injured.

With a sigh, Kira shook her head and left the room. The girl was giving no answers, and Bashir had only provided her with more, and disturbing, questions.

She wondered if she should contact the Cardassian government, and a warning flare went off in her head, as a feeling of discomfort settled into her stomach. While Bashir had spoken of medical instinct, Kira had command instinct, and decided that contacting the Cardassians now would lead to results she wouldn't like. There was only one person in the Cardassian government whom she could trust, and it would be difficult to get through to him. But perhaps Garak could be of service. Even if he had no idea who the girl was and why she had come here, Kira knew he could find out fairly easily and, above all, discreetly.

She decided to go see the engineering team first, before pulling someone else into this mystery, and headed back to docking bay four.

* * *

"Captain," Nog said, looking up from his work.

"What have you got, Lieutenant?"

"Nothing that you're going to like, sir," he replied grimly, pulling himself to his feet and shaking his head. "Most of the records have been erased, but we've been able to patch some of them together. The flight plan, for instance, as well as some information from the flight recorder. Come with me."

She followed him to a console, where he called up a display, and vaguely wondered if her whole day was going to be like this: files explained to her by various specialists.

"This is her original flight plan, as far was I can tell. She started from Retros V, which is in Cardassian space, but the system itself is very sparsely populated. From what we know, it's only a handful of scientists who live out there, studying whatever's there to study. You see it took her out of Cardassian space, but not through any heavily populated areas; she was deliberately keeping to the backwater systems. And here," he pointed to the screen, "She took herself right into the Badlands."

Kira raised her eyebrows.

"How long was she in there for?"

"At least a week, which accounts for most of the damage to her ship."

"A week. A teenage girl piloting around the Badlands by herself for a week."

"I don't think she was alone all of the time, sir," Nog said in a dark voice. "I had a team examine the scorch marks on her hull, and analyze the signature patterns. She was fired on, and by at least one Cardassian vessel."

Kira stared at him.

"What would possess a Cardassian ship to fire on one of its own small shuttles?"

"I don't know, sir."

"Can you tell me anything else?", Kira asked.

"Her flight here wasn't an accident. She had this destination programmed into her computer since she left Retros V."

Kira shook her head.

"Well, keep looking, Lieutenant. Thank you."

Leaving him, she found Ro, who was talking to two more security officers, and dismissed them when she saw Kira.

"Anything, Lieutenant?", she asked.

"Nothing, sir. We've been searching this ship top to bottom and all we found were some personal effects. We've scanned it three times already and there's no hint of anything dangerous on board, or any smuggling compartments."

"What about the weapons?", Kira asked.

"We checked her systems, and they aren't even on par with standard Cardassian equipment. Whoever built this shuttle designed it for short runs in safe systems, not for combat. She was lucky she had the Badlands to hide in, otherwise, the Cardassians who fired on her would have obliterated her."

Grimly, Kira nodded.

"Report to me when you've finished your investigation," she said, and Ro nodded.

"Of course, sir."

With a sinking feeling that this day was just going to get longer and longer, Kira left the shuttle again, and went in search of Quark.

* * *

Two strips of gold-pressed latinum clinked gently on the counter in front of Quark. He looked down at them, then up at Kira, who was standing across from him, looking displeased. As usual.

"What can I do for you, Captain?", the bartender inquired smoothly.

"I think the question is what can we both do for each other?", Kira replied.

"What do you mean?", Quark asked.

"I need your services, now, and discreetly. Not only am I willing to pay, but I'll also overlook those crates of smuggled Romulan ale you're planning to ship to Cardassia."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Quark replied.

"Good," the captain said. "Make sure that state of ignorance keeps up."

"What do you need?", Quark asked.

Kira leaned closer to him, lowering her voice.

"I need to talk to Garak, now, and without anyone else knowing."

Quark arched an eyebrow.

"I think we have a deal. Come with me."

He led her back into the storeroom and took several minutes to ensure a secure channel, then put a call through to Garak. Kira didn't bother questioning how he had Garak's contact information. The less she knew, the better.

"I'll leave you now," the Ferengi said and backed away graciously.

Kira held her breath unconsciously until Garak's face appeared on the screen.

"Captain!" he said, surprise in his voice. "How good to see you again. What can I do for you?"

"I was hoping you'd ask that," Kira replied. "I need your help."

"Of course," the Cardassian replied.

"Do you know anything about the Retros system?"

Garak frowned.

"I'm afraid I don't, Captain. Why?"

"Because a Cardassian girl just arrived on my station from Retros V via the Badlands. Her ship was badly damaged, and she was injured. She was attacked, Garak. By a Cardassian warship."

Garak's dark eyes widened in surprise.

"This the first I've heard about this," he assured her.

"Well I need you to find out what's going on. This girl planned a deliberate flight path from Retros through the Badlands to DS9. I need to know why, and I need to know why your people were firing on her."

"Are you sure she sustained Cardassian fire?" Garak asked.

Kira pursed her lips grimly.

"My engineers know Cardassian weapons signatures when they see them," she said.

"Good point, Captain. I assure you, I will find out what I can and get back to you."

"Make sure the channel is secure," Kira warned. "I don't want anyone else knowing she's here."

"I think, Captain, that goes without saying."


	2. Chapter 2

2

The next morning, when Bashir arrived for his duty shift, the Cardassian girl was still unconscious. He had a brief meeting with Doctor Tarses, and then went to see his only patient. He checked her vitals quickly, then pulled out a medical tricorder and began to run another detailed scan to assess the extent of her recovery.

She was healing well. Bashir was pleased and considered how much longer he would let her remain unconscious before reviving her. In a few hours, she should be well enough to wake, he decided, and that would probably coincide with Kira's patience running out.

He was just about to turn away and put the tricorder back when something grasped his wrist so hard that he gasped and dropped his instrument. The hold tightened and Bashir looked down at the girl to find her awake and staring up at him, suspicion etched deeply into her features.

"It's all right!", he managed through the pain immobilizing his arm.

"Who are you?", she hissed.

"My name's Bashir, I'm a doctor–" he said through clenched teeth as, almost impossibly, her grip redoubled. "Please– Let my– arm go–"

"Where am I? How did I get here?"

"You're on Deep Space Nine," Bashir managed.

The girl growled and her grip on Bashir tightened threateningly.

"Don't play games with me," she warned.

"Believe me– I'm not trying to. I'm a human," Bashir gasped. "You wouldn't find me in Cardassian space."

Bashir felt the girl's grip release slightly, but only slightly.

"What's the name of the commanding officer here?"

"Captain Kira Nerys," Bashir managed.

"And tell me, " the girl demanded, "Has she contacted the Cardassian government yet?"

Bashir started to shake his head, but the girl gripped him harder and he stopped moving at all.

"No. She decided not to until she'd talked to you. A Cardassian ship fired on yours. She wants to know what's going on first."

The girl was still for a moment, then pushed Bashir away from her with a sure, sharp shove. He stumbled forward and grasping a console for support until he'd regained his balance. Then he gripped his arm carefully, holding it steady and looked down at his wrist. He was shocked to see it already turning black and blue.

"I promise you," Bashir said, looking back at the girl. "No one is going to hurt you."

She gave him a suspicious look, but didn't say anything.

"I need to fix this," the doctor said, indicating his arm.

She nodded curtly and he approached her, picking up his medical equipment with his left hand. With some difficulty, as he had no assistance, Bashir healed the bruises she'd induced and did not mention that she had cracked his radius.

"All right," he said, turning back to the girl. "What's your name?"

She gave him an angry, defiant look.

"I'll only talk to your commanding officer," she said in a voice that brooked no argument.

Bashir nodded, feeling relieved. Kira would probably be better at dealing with someone line this girl; they both seemed to have about the same degree of patience.

"All right." He tapped his combadge. "Bashir to Kira. Our patient is awake and she'd like to speak to you."

* * *

When Kira entered the small infirmary room, Bashir was already gone. The Cardassian girl was sitting cross legged on the biobed, gazing curiously at Kira as the Colonel took a seat.

"What is it?", Kira asked.

"I've never seen a Bajoran before," the girl replied.

"Well, now you have," the Colonel replied. "What's your name?"

"Tareina."

"Tareina?"

The girl's eyes narrowed.

"Tareina Adat. Where's my ship?"

"Your ship's docked safely here."

Tareina's eyes narrowed more, flashing.

"You have to destroy it," she said.

"Excuse me?", Kira asked.

With an easy, graceful movement, Tareina slipped down from her biobed and began pacing the room.

"By now, you must have examined the ship, because your doctor told me that you know a Cardassian ship fired on me," she said.

"Yes," Kira confirmed.

"They left me as soon as I passed into Federation space. But you could bet your station that they're sitting at the border, getting permission from the Federation to come here and get me."

"Why?", Kira asked. "What did you do?"

The girl spun on her, her black hair flying.

"Nothing. I did nothing. It's what was done to me."

"What was done to you?", Kira pressed, remembering what Bashir had told her the day before.

Tareina suddenly went silent and stood still, staring hard at Kira.

"I'm not saying anything else," she replied stiffly.

"I'm trying to help you, Tareina. I can't do that until you tell me what's going on."

"You can help me by destroying my ship and telling them I died in the explosion."

"I need to know why your people are after you first," Kira insisted.

Tareina's features went cold.

"They aren't my people," she hissed.

"What?", Kira asked. "Doctor Bashir examined you and you are a Cardassian."

"If that's what he thinks, then he's a fool," Tareina spat. "And you for believing him."

"If you aren't Cardassian, then what are you?", Kira asked.

Tareina crossed her arms, setting her jaw.

"I'm not saying anything else," she repeated.

"Fine," Kira sighed. "I'll do what I can, but if you don't help me, I'm not making any promises." She gave the girl a moment to say something more, but Tareina remained silent, and Kira strode from the room, heading for her office.

* * *

"Quark to Kira," the Ferengi's voice came over the com, interrupting Kira from her work in her office. She looked up at the wall and tapped her badge in response.

"Go ahead."

"There's a message coming in for you from Cardassia, on a secure channel."

"Can you patch it through?", Kira asked.

"I'm already working on it."

"Thank you. Kira out," she said as she tapped her badge again and turned on her personal comscreen. A secure channel notice flashed across the screen, followed by the Federation symbol. A moment after that, Garak's face appeared on the screen, and Kira was surprised to feel relief.

"Captain Kira," the Cardassian greeted. "I have some information for you that I think you'll find important. Is Doctor Bashir with you?"

Kira shook her head.

"No, but I can get him."

"Then I advise that you do."

Within a few minutes, Bashir was in her office, standing behind her, bent over to better see the comscreen, bracing himself against her desk with one arm.

"What is it?", Kira asked.

"I was able to find some information on the girl in question in our records. Her name is Tareina Adat, and she is indeed from the Retros system. You said that she's an adolescent, correct?"

Kira nodded.

"Captain, our records show that Adat is only seven years old."

"Seven?", Kira asked, then looked over at Bashir. He looked surprised, his eyebrows raised, his eyes glinting.

"Garak, I ran scans on her. Her bone growth indicators show that she's fourteen years old," the doctor said.

"You told me you found signs of genetic tampering," Kira pointed out. "What if her aging process had been sped up somehow?"

"But why? And by who?", Bashir asked.

"Captain, these are the only records I was able to access for Adat so far," Garak said. "But I must tell you that I know there are more records for our young woman. They are, however, locked. Any attempt I made to access them would have been picked up by someone else in Cardassian government and traced back to me immediately. It seems to me that is the last thing we want right now."

Kira stared at him for a moment.

"The Cardassian government's locked her files. She's seven years old, at least, we're supposed to believe she is. For all practical purposes, she's a teenager. Why would the Cardassian government need to restrict her files and try and kill her?", she asked.

Garak shook his head.

"I will continue making inquiries, Captain, but I cannot guarantee I will find anything."

"Someone's got to get her talking,", Kira sighed. "She won't talk to me."

"She broke my arm this morning," Bashir said dryly.

Kira tapped her fingers on her desk, frowning.

"It's times like this I wish Sisko was still here. He was always so good at this kind of thing. By the Prophets, it would even help if Vaughn weren't on shore leave. What about Mathias?"

"I'm not sure a half Vulcan is the best person to deal with Tareina," Bashir admitted. "She's afraid and upset and we don't know why. Philipa's good, but I'm not sure Tareina would respond to her."

"Then Dax," Kira said.

"I'll ask her," Bashir said. "But with the way Tareina's been reacting, I can't promise anything, even with Ezri."

"Just try," Kira sighed. "We've got to figure out what's going on. I was just talking to Admiral McCull at Starfleet Headquarters. A Cardassian ship is requesting permission to come here and reclaim an escaped prisoner."

Garak raised his eyebrows.

"That's certainly news to me," he commented. "I've had no reports of any Cardassian ships requesting access to Federation space for any reason."

"You'd think that your law enforcement officials would let the head of the government know if they needed to pursue an escaped criminal into someone else's space," Bashir commented dryly.

"Doctor, I assure you, the Retros system never contained a prison. I've checked with a contact of mine and it still doesn't. It is only scientific outposts. Nor did Adat's records indicate she had been in prison."

"Great," Kira said to Garak's image. "I'm not about to turn her over to you without knowing why I'm doing so."

"I don't blame you, Captain. I'd rather like to know why members of my government are so eager to have her back that they're willing not to let me know that they're pursuing her."

Kira sighed.

"Whatever else you could find out would be helpful, Garak."

"I assure you, I will find out everything I can. I have no intentions of seeing this girl die for reasons I don't know."

Kira nodded.

"Thank you."

"You will hear from me again soon," Garak promised before his image winked out and the screen went blank. Kira loked up at Bashir, who was looking back down at her.

"Doctor, Tareina said something about not being a Cardassian. I need you to find out what that means."

Bashir looked surprised.

"I'll do my best, Captain," he sighed. "But, as far as I can tell, Cardassian is what she is."

Kira nodded.

"Well, she doesn't think so. And she's the one with all the answers right now. If she won't give them to us, we're just going to have to find them some other way."


	3. Chapter 3

3

Quark found Bashir at one of the tables in the mezzanine, enjoying a drink after his duty shift had ended.

"Doctor," the Ferengi said, sitting down opposite of the human and resting one arm on the table. "I think Captain Kira's going to be looking for you."

"How do you know," Bashir asked.

"Because I just put through a call to her office from an old friend of yours," Quark said in a low tone.

"Right," Bashir said, and left his half finished drink. He hurried to ops, resisting the urge to stop at the infirmary first and check on the girl. Tareina was still there; in fact, she refused to leave. Bashir hoped that Dax had agreed to talk to the girl once her shift was over; he hoped she'd get further with Tareina than he and Kira had.

"Good timing, Julian," Kira commented once Bashir had been admitted to her office.

"Quark gave me the heads up," he replied, to which Kira nodded knowingly.

"What do you have for me?", the captain asked, addressing the question to her comscreen as Bashir circled behind her desk. Garak was already there, and nodded at Bashir, who returned the greeting.

"An old friend of mine was able to provide me with some information I think you'll find quite valuable," Garak replied.

Bashir raised an eyebrow.

"Is this friend a former agent for the Obsidian Order?", he asked.

"Why, doctor, I have no idea what you mean. I didn't ask how this information was obtained."

"That isn't important right now," Kira insisted. "We need the information you have, Garak."

"I'm sending it right now," the Cardassian replied. Kira picked up a datapad and cleared it to receive new information. When it was downloaded, she handed it quickly to Bashir, who set himself to reading it. When he was finished, he looked up quickly, eyes wide.

"Are you certain this is accurate?", he demanded.

"I have no way of telling," Garak replied. "Certainly I've never heard of this before, but that doesn't mean anything. I assume with your medical expertise, you can figure out if this is the case."

"I hope so," Bashir said grimly, rising and handing the pad to Kira. "Captain, I've got to get back to the infirmary now."

Kira nodded quickly, wondering with a sinking feeling what was on that pad. Bashir was out the door almost before she had dismissed him.

"Garak, what's going on?", she demanded, turning back to the comscreen.

"I intend to explain, Captain," he assured her. "Because there's something you need to do for me."

* * *

"Read this," Kira said to Dax as the other woman stepped into her office.

Dax accepted the report Garak had sent and read it quickly, looking up at the captain in shock when she was finished.

"Does Julian know about this?", she asked.

"He's already down in the infirmary, working on it. I wanted you to see it first, before you went to talk to her. Come on. We're both going down there to see what's going on."

"Right," Dax said, her jaw set grimly, as she handed the pad back to Kira. The Bajoran woman took it and kept it with her, reluctant to leave it in her office on the off chance someone else found it. The less that was known about Tareina Adat's background, the better.

* * *

The two women arrived in the infirmary and found Bashir hard at work. Kira noted that Bashir was wisely staying out of Tareina's sight. She didn't blame him. The idea that a fourteen year old– no, seven year old could break a grown man's arm was chilling.

"I take it you've read Garak's report," Bashir said to the former counselor, looking back over his shoulder at her.

Dax nodded curtly.

"Have you found anything?", Kira asked.

"Unfortunately yes, I have. Whoever Garak's contact is, he knows what he's doing."

"So she is a Jem'Hadar," Kira said.

Bashir shook his head quickly.

"No. Not really. At least fifty percent of her genetic structure is Cardassian, but I can't give you an exact percentage, not yet. And the Jem'Hadar don't have females. I think she was specifically designed to look and be Cardassian in almost every respect."

"And the Jem'Hadar DNA? Why weren't your scans able to pick that up right away?"

Bashir tapped the console and an image of Cardassian and Jem'Hadar DNA appeared.

"Because, somehow, someone devised a way to make the Jem'Hadar DNA biomimetic. It _looks_ like Cardassian DNA. It _acts_ like Cardassian DNA when examined. But it is not Cardassian DNA."

"That would explain why her reproductive organs are missing," Kira said grimly.

"You're right: it does. You wouldn't want someone like her breeding. She was made to be a soldier."

"Obviously something went wrong," Dax said, shaking her head. "Because she's here, and she doesn't seem as aggressive as a Jem'Hadar."

Bashir looked at her.

"She broke my arm," he reminded her.

"I know. But she was frightened and taken unawares. I'm not saying she isn't trained as a soldier, but the Dominion demands unwavering loyalty from its soldiers. If that's what the Cardassians were after, they didn't get it right in her case."

"I'll say," Kira muttered, almost under her breath. "No wonder the Cardassian government wants her back. If she doesn't work they way they wanted her to, they'd need to destroy her."

"Captain, we cannot give her back to the Union," Bashir insisted.

"Believe me, I have no intentions of doing so," Kira replied. "But I don't think the Federation is going to refuse to allow the Cardassians to come get her."

"Can't you talk to them?", Bashir asked. "Let them know what was done to her?"

"It wouldn't do any good," Dax said, shaking her head. "Prime Directive."

Bashir frowned.

"You could try and convince the Federation to offer her political asylum," he pointed out.

Kira nodded.

"I'll do my best, but no guarantees. The Federation isn't eager to be back on Cardassia's bad side, and trying to keep one of their military secrets here probably wouldn't go very well for them."

"She's a _person_, Colonel," Bashir said.

"I know, Julian," Kira replied. "I have no desire to hand her back over. She got herself all the way here, and she should stay here. Going home would be a death sentence."

"She wouldn't even get home," Dax said. "She'd be dead before she left Federation space."

"I'll do what I can," Kira sighed. "Dax, go talk to her. Julian, keep working on this. Find out as much as you can."

* * *

Ezri Dax was certain that the girl had heard her coming, even through the Trill walked softly. Tareina was sitting alert, watching the door, when Dax stepped through it.

"Who are you?", the Cardassian – Ezri couldn't think of her any other way – demanded.

"My name is Ezri Dax. I'm a trained counselor."

Tareina looked offended.

"I see. You were assigned to talk to me because your position engenders trust."

Dax approached the bed and stopped with a comfortable distance between them.

"No. I'm no longer the station's counselor; I'm the strategic operations officer now. It's the fact that I'm over three hundred years old, so I know a thing or two about talking to people."

Tareina gave her an evaluating look.

"And I know that you're only seven," Dax continued.

"So your doctor isn't a complete fool," the girl snapped. "What of it?"

Dax clasped her hands behind her back.

"We were able to find out who you are. And what you are. Now the question is, why did you come here and what do you want?"

The girl gave Dax a long, slow, calculating look.

"How did you find out?", she asked.

"We have a contact in the Cardassian government," Dax replied.

"What!" Tareina exploded. "Your doctor said you hadn't contacted the Cardassian government! Now they'll know I'm here!"

"They already know," Dax reminded her. "The Cardassians are trying to get permission from the Federation to come here and get you."

"Ha!", Tareina snorted. "I knew it. So why did you tell them?"

"Captain Kira has no intention of handing you over. We're trying to get you asylum here, and our contact is trying to help us with that. Not everyone in the Cardassian government knew about you and your trip here."

"Who's your contact?", the girl snapped.

"Elim Garak."

Tareina stared at Dax.

"Garak?", she spat.

"That's right."

"He's the head of the government! How could he not know? You said the Cardassians were trying to get access to your space! He'd know about that!"

"You would think so, yes. But apparently, the leader of the Union was left out of the loop on this issue. That means that other people have been too, Tareina. So not every Cardassian is out to kill you. And if you want us, and the people in the Union who can help you, to be on your side, there are answers you need to give to us."

"How do you know he's you telling the truth?", she demanded.

"Garak's an expert liar," Dax said. "But I've known him for thirteen years, and if he wanted you dead, you would have been dead by now. Under his order, you certainly would never had made it this far, and he wouldn't be willing to provide us with all the information he has on you."

"That's comforting," Tareina said and Dax realized there was no sarcasm in her voice. It probably was comforting to realize that a potential enemy had made no move against you and therefore was not likely to do so.

"We need your help, Tareina," Dax stressed.

Tareina looked wary, but asked:

"What do you need to know?"

"Why did you come here?"

"Because they were trying to kill me," the girl replied flatly.

Dax nodded slowly.

"They weren't trying to kill you because you ran?"

Tareina gave a vehement shake of her head.

"No. No. They'd killed all the others, or were almost done killing them. They would have killed me, too, but I saw it was coming. So did some of the others. We planned to escape."

"What others?", Dax asked gently.

Tareina eyed her.

"You said you knew what I was," she accused.

"Yes. Doctor Bashir was able to isolate your biomimetic Jem'Hadar DNA."

"Then you think I'm the only one? Do you think that this was some side experiment? The Cardassian government was trying to make more adept soldiers, ones they could have ready within a few years, rather than decades. The entire Retros system is made up of scientific outposts. _We're_ why. There's nothing out there to study, but it's so out of the way that no one knows that, and wouldn't question a bunch of scientific colonies."

"But the experiment failed," Dax said.

"Yes. What they didn't realize is that masking the Jem'Hadar DNA decreased its efficacy. And it only represents twenty-five percent of my DNA, in case your doctor couldn't get the precise number."

"How did you know that?", Dax interrupted.

Tareina rolled her eyes.

"Because the DNA is biomimetic, Counselor. It's deliberately difficult to tell the proportions. But because there's so much Cardassian DNA there, we turned out to be, surprise, Cardassians."

"You don't have unwavering loyalty they expected."

"No," Tareina replied.

"You said there were others that planned to escape."

"Yes."

"What happened to them?"

"I don't know. They were caught and killed, probably. Destroyed in their ships. I have no idea."

"Why did you come here?"

"Because it's the closest Federation outpost I could get to from Retros, and it's twice been reclaimed from the Cardassians. It seemed logical that you people would be able to help. You've dealt with them before."

Dax nodded.

"What you just told me will give us more leverage to help you," she said.

"It won't be long before the Cardassians secure permission to come here," Tareina warned. "They'll tell the Federation I'm a great threat."

"And are you?"

Tareina glared.

"Not to the Federation."

"But to the Cardassian government."

"Only because I didn't work they way they wanted!", she snapped. "And if this kind of failure leaked out, it would weaken the government's position. No one wants to be remembered as having ties to the Dominion, and that's exactly what I represent. And with Dukat dead, the people in charge now will be the ones who get blamed. The Cardassian people will want to put this on someone."

"Dukat?", Dax asked, raising her eyebrows.

"You knew him?", Tareina asked.

"Oh, yes," Dax replied.

"Well, it was his idea," Tareina said.

_Who else?_, Dax thought, feeling no real surprise. That was more ammunition for Kira to use with the Federation. Dukat had essentially sentenced this girl to death the moment he conceived of the ill-fated plan.

It was a good thing that the Federation didn't have to honour Cardassian death sentences.

"Why don't you come with me for a tour of the station?", Dax asked, changing tactics slightly, aware that Tareina might soon get frustrated with being so forthcoming. She was already frightened enough as she was, and doing a good job masking it with anger. Dax didn't want to push that.

The girl looked wary.

"No one's going to hurt you."

"That's what your doctor told me," the girl replied. "I find that hard to believe."

"Why?", Dax asked.

"It's a space station, Counselor," the girl snapped. "There could be any number of spies here. They don't have to be Cardassian to sell information to the Cardassian government."

_She's right. Although a little paranoid_, Dax thought.

"You have the head of the Cardassian Union on your side, Tareina. If any information gets sold, it will go to him. He knows you're here. "

"Do I have to go?", she asked.

"No one's going to force you to," Dax promised. "But I can't imagine you'll want to stay in the infirmary forever, and if you're going to stay on the station, people are going to want to get to know you."

Tareina looked surprised again.

"Stay here?", she asked.

"Of course," Dax said, slightly puzzled. "Unless you had planned to go somewhere else in the Federation."

"I– hadn't thought that far ahead," Tareina admitted.

"Well, as long as you're here, why not get to know the people here? I'd be glad to show you around."

"All right," the girl agreed reluctantly.

Dax nodded and smiled slightly.

"Then come with me."

* * *

"I have good news," Bashir said, entering Kira's office. The Bajoran woman looked up at him expectantly.

"What is it?", she asked.

"I think I've figured out a way to slow down Tareina's aging process. I won't be able to get it back to normal, but close enough so that it will be difficult to tell."

"Good," Kira said shortly. "Because I have bad news."

"Oh no," Bashir groaned.

"Come with me. We're going to meet Nog and Ro."

Bashir accompanied her to the briefing room, where the security and engineering chiefs were already waiting. They rose from their seats when Kira came in, and sat back down as she and Bashir claimed seats of their own.

"I just finished speaking to Admiral McCull, and they've already decided to let the Cardassians come to DS9."

The group looked dismayed.

"The Admiral says he understands the grounds for political asylum, but Starfleet is under orders from the Federation Council not to rescind their decision. The Cardassians are coming. We have about three or four hours before they get here."

"We can't let them take her back," Ro insisted, and Kira was surprised at the conviction with which she spoke. She felt the same way, but it was heartening to realize a fellow Bajoran was behind her belief that Tareina needed to stay here.

"What about Garak?", Bashir demanded.

Kira gave him a sharp look.

"He's working on things on his end, but it's up to us to figure out a way to keep the Cardassians en route from getting her. There's nothing Garak can do right now. Not without betraying that he knows about this, because someone's obviously gone to great lengths to keep it from him. We need a plan."

"When she first woke up, she asked me to destroy her ship," Bashir said. "What if we did that, and dampened her life sign here so that the Cardassians think we destroyed her?"

Kira shook her head.

"They already know she's here and that we brought her on board. Why would we do that?"

"So she escaped and was firing on the station," Ro suggested.

"I doubt that would convince the Cardassians," Kira sighed. "They'd want to come aboard and look for her themselves."

"Dammit," Bashir muttered.

Nog snapped his fingers and the other three looked over at him.

"That won't work, but something else might," he said. "Doctor, if you worked with my engineering teams, we could make her ship broadcast a false life sign, so the Cardassians would think she was on the shuttle if they scanned it. And we could still dampen her life sign here, so they wouldn't pick her up on the station. And _they_ will destroy the shuttle if they think she's on it and she's firing on them."

"How do we get an unmanned ship to fire on another vessel?", Kira asked.

Nog turned his eyes to her.

"I've been working with bastardized Cardassian technology here for seven years, Captain. I can set up her computer system to fire remotely. Some of the weapons are on line, and that's enough. All we need is one phaser bank for this to work."

"What about her, though?", Bashir asked. "Are the Cardassians really going to believe that we let her back onto her ship? To what end?"

Kira shook her head.

"They don't have to believe that. She's a soldier. She knows that she's on the verge of being captured. If the Cardassians were coming after me, I'd run, too. We'll have security stage a fire fight through the station, toward the docking bay."

Ro nodded.

"That could work," she said.

"Let's hope it works," Kira sighed. "I can't order any of you to do this; it goes against our instructions from Starfleet. If it doesn't work, we'll be in a lot of trouble, on more than one front."

Ro shook her head.

"I'm a Bajoran before I'm a Starfleet officer, and I'd rather be court martialed than see another innocent person slaughtered by the Cardassians."

"I can't condone handing over a patient to be executed," Bashir said.

"She doesn't deserve this," Nog put in. "This isn't the way to fix a mistake. They just want to get out easily. It doesn't work that way."

"Good," Kira said. "We'd better get going, we're going to need all the time we have to pull this off. Cortez, get your teams working with Julian. Ro, alert your security staff and have them ready for a fire fight. Julian, get Simon to establish the dampening field. I'll get Tareina."

"She's with Dax," Bashir said.

"Good," Kira said. "She can probably do something to help."

* * *

Dax took Tareina down the promenade, grateful that it was evening and there weren't many people about; they were either in their homes for dinner or on duty. As it was, enough people were staring at the Cardassian girl to make even the Trill uncomfortable, so, to distract Tareina from the attention, Dax had provided a detailed history of the station. She talked about everything they saw, from the security office, where Dax told Tareina about Odo, to the Bajoran temple. Tareina was mildly curious about that, but refrained from going very close to it, held at bay by the looks she was receiving from the Bajorans who were on the promonade.

Tareina had been very reluctant at first, but Dax was well over three hundred years old and had a wealth of experience dealing with reserved people. She kept up most of the conversation herself, learning only a little about Tareina in the process. But perhaps there was little to know about her. Certainly her life hadn't seemed to hold more than training and testing up until the time she had fled Retros less than two weeks ago.

Dax had learned, however, that the girl had no parents, no real family. Someone had contributed the DNA for her conception, of course, and it had then been spliced with Jem'Hadar DNA to produce Tareina, but whoever the donors were, Tareina had never even learned their names.

Dax was disgusted.

Several hundred Cardassian children raised by scientists as laboratory experiments. In a culture that held family to be the strongest tie, the most important thing in life, she was appaled that so many of their own children had been raised the way Tareina had. As experiments. It was no way for a Cardassian to live.

She showed Tareina the tailor's shop, now run by a woman from Bajor who had moved to the station shortly after the war had ended. Tareina listened attentively to the story Dax told about Garak having lived on the station for seven years, and having established the tailor's shop himself. She couldn't tell if Tareina believed her or not; it was impossible to read her expressions if she chose not to show them. She was too well trained.

Dax was in the middle of trying to decide whether or not to take Tareina to Quark's when her thoughts were interrupted by Kira's voice over the com system:

"Kira to Dax."

"This is Dax. Go ahead, Captain."

"Bring Tareina and come up to the briefing room. The Cardassians are on their way, and we think we have a plan to keep Tareina on the station."

Dax looked over at Tareina, who was standing still, her expression blank.

"Understood, Captain. On our way."

* * *

Tareina stood in the examination room of the sickbay, with the doctors, two security officers, and Dax. Doctor Bashir was attaching a small device to her sleeve.

"All right," he said. "When you get there, there will be an engineering team waiting for you. You've got to go inside the shuttle. Once you're there, activate this by pressing here. That will alert your ship's computer to activate the false signal, and dampen your own life sign at the same time. When you're off the ship, Lieutenant Nog will begin controlling it remotely."

"I understand," Tareina said. She could see the look of displeasure in the human's face; he was uneasy with this whole thing. So was she, but she remained calm, her heartbeat normal, her breathing controlled, as she was trained to do.

"Let's go," one of the security officers, a Bajoran woman named Ro, said, gesturing slightly with her phaser rifle.

Tareina nodded and joined her. The two officers stayed on either side of her and Dax as they hurried through the station. She hadn't been given a weapon, but Dax had, and the three of them fired random shots from time to time, missing each other by wide margins.

They took the lift, and got off seven floors later, as planned, Dax firing at the controls to disable them believably. Another security team came out from around a corner and fired above their heads. Tareina ducked instinctively, her fingers itching for a weapon. Dax gripped her arm and pulled her back upright, and she fought the instinct to slam the Trill woman aside.

"This way," Ro said.

Tareina jogged along behind the Bajoran until they reached an access way. Ro went in first, with Tareina following her, Dax behind her, and the other security officer coming last. The three people with weapons slung them across their backs in order to crawl quickly. This route would work, Tareina had argued with Kira, because she was a Cardassian soldier and knew the lay out of standard Cardassian stations.

They came to the end of the access tunnel, and when Tareina clambered out, Ro was already climbing the ladder to the next level. Tareina followed quickly, concentrating on her breathing as she scaled her way past each level.

They took another access tunnel back to the main corridors, and were two decks below the docking ring. Ro led them toward another lift, and they were "surprised" by another security team. They exchanged weapons fire, doing some minor damage to the walls and ceilings, while Tareina was forced to wait for them to finish. Ro gave her a nod and she ran after the security chief, into the lift. It took them to the docking ring, where they were greeted with two more security teams. The falsified exchange lasted longer this time. Tareina was certain the approaching Cardassian ship was scanning the station, and detecting the internal battle.

It was difficult for her to stay still and let them carry out the charade; she had been trained her whole life for combat situations. Although she had rejected her upbringing, a lifetime, however short, of battle preparation did not fade overnight. Tareina forced herself to stay steady and calm, and wait out the staged fight, ignoring the instincts screaming at her to seize a weapon and defend herself. The Jem'Hadar DNA was well honed for this sort of situation, but the Cardassian DNA was stronger, and she fought herself, winning with some effort.

When the two teams pulled back, she ran along the corridor behind Ro until they reached port four. There, a team of engineers were awaiting her, a human female and a Vulcan female.

"You know what to do," Dax said in a low voice, gripping her upper arm lightly.

Tareina looked up at the Trill, giving her a confident nod.

"Yes," she said.

"We're ready for you," the Vulcan said.

"So am I," Tareina replied, and Ro fired a shot at the docking port release panel, disabling it for her. Tareina slipped through into the airlock, which Dax and Ro forced closed again behind her. The second hatch open and she hurried into her ship, activating the engines and powering up what weapons she had left. Then she pressed her thumb against the small device on her sleeve and heard the near silent hum of the ship's new program jump to life. Without a glance back, she hurried into the airlock and let it seal behind her.

She saw the Vulcan engineer tap her combadge and speak, presumably to Nog in ops, turning control of the ship to him. Tareina turned and watch the ship shudder slightly as the docking clamps disengaged. It pulled back slowly from the station and she saw the blackness of space appear around the edges, and the bright pinprick lights of the distant stars. Her ship, crewless, spun away from the station and the impulse engines powered up.

Tareina turned away as ro and Dax forced the door back open. She hurried out, Dax lending her a hand, and looked at Ro.

"Nog has the ship," the Bajoran confirmed for her. "Ops says they're picking up your life sign on it, and not here."

"Good," Tareina nodded. She could still see her shuttle, just barely, through the airlock doors.

The next several minutes were tense, as the small group gathered in the corridor waited for any sign from opps. The security guards held their phaser rifles too tightly, the human engineer fidgeted, ready to fix the damage deliberately wrought on her station, but unable to do so yet. Tareina and the Vulcan stood stock still, Tareina barely breathing. This wait was worse than standing through the mock fire fights; she was essentially waiting for her own death.

The sound of Nog's voice over the com sliced the taut silence:

"Nog to Ro. They bought it."

Everyone sagged and Ro tapped her combadge.

"Acknowledged," she said.

"Captain Kira wants you to get Tareina back to sickbay."

Ro looked over at Tareina and nodded.

"Right away," she said.

* * *

"Get those Cardassians on screen!", Kira snapped.

"Yes, sir," the com officer replied, and, a moment later, Gul Tekar's face appeared.

"Captain," he said calmly.

"What the hell did you do that for?", Kira demanded, stalking around the com console to get a better view of the screen.

"She was firing on us, Captain."

"She had one tiny shuttle! The weapons systems were barely operational! You could tell that!"

"Adat's fate is non of your concern. She had already been sentenced to death. The only thing this changes is now she won't have the trial."

"Your trials are shams!", Kira said.

"I'm sure we all appreciate the Bajoran perspective on our legal system, Captain, but the fact remains that Adat was a wanted Cardassian criminal, and Cardassia was granted permission to retrieve her from Federation space. The manner of that retrieval is of no consequence to you."

"She was only fourteen years old!", Kira raged.

"To be sure. Nevertheless, our justice has been carried out. I'm sure that if you dispute the results, Starfleet Command would be very happy to let you file a complaint. I must remind you, however, of your Federation's Prime Directive. This was clearly a case of a Cardassian incident dealt with by Cardassian authorities."

"In Federation space!"

"With their approval. I do not see any merit in debating this any longer. Pass on our thanks for the hospitality to the Federation Council, will you? Good day."

The screen returned to its normal view of space and stars.

"Well," Kira said, smiling over at Nog. "That couldn't have gone better. I'll be down in the infirmary if you need me. You have the bridge."


	4. Chapter 4

4

Kira entered the infirmary and found Bashir waiting for her.

"How's she doing, doctor?", the captain asked.

"She's responding very well to the treatments," Bashir replied with a smile. "Another two weeks and we'll be finished."

Kira smiled as well.

"Good. Can I talk to her?"

"Of course. We finished about ten minutes ago. She's just resting now."

"Come with me," Kira said.

Bashir led her into the small room where Tareina was resting on a bed, her head elevated slightly, her hands folded over her stomach. She smiled when she saw the captain.

In the week that she had been here, Kira had noticed a remarkable transformation. Tareina was happier and far more relaxed. Bashir's treatments seemed to agree with her, and Kira was pleased to know that by the time the doctor was done, Tareina would age a year and two months for every Cardassian year. It was a close thing, and certainly better than aging twice as fast.

"Hello, Captain," the girl said, smiling at them.

"Hello, Tareina," Kira replied. She held out a datapad toward the young woman.

"What is it?", Tareina asked, accepting it.

"While we were working out how to keep you alive without Terak knowing, Garak was working on getting you a new identity. As far as the Cardassian government is concerned, Tareina Adat died last week in an attack on a military vessel. But Taranna Deram has been alive for fourteen years and living in the Union with her family all of her life. She's never been into Federation space, or to DS9. Read it."

Tareina did so, looked up at the Colonel quickly, a stunned expression on her face. Kira understood; family was paramount in Cardassian culture. For two Cardassians to take on the guise of parents to a girl they had never met was almost unheard of.

"Garak has requested that you undergo some cosmetic surgery to make you look more like your mother. Doctor Bashir can do that easily, once your aging treatments are done."

Tareina was grinning broadly, gripping the pad in her hands as if it would disappear otherwise.

"Of course," she agreed.

"I'll need some images of her," Bashir said, looking surprised, but pleased.

"You'll get them," Kira promised. But it would not be much work; Kira didn't know where Garak had found Alath and Eraas Deram, or how long he had known them, but they were an amazing find. Tareina already looked enough like Alath that she could have passed as the woman's daughter and only a small number of people would notice the differences. With minor surgery, Tareina would go unquestioned as Alath's child.

When Kira had seen the arrangements Garak had made, she had promised herself that if he ever asked her for anything, no matter how difficult or risky his request, she would see that he got it. She knew that he was still Garak, and would lie to her if it suited his needs, but in this, he had her complete trust. There were very few Cardassians who would be willing to go to such lengths for someone they didn't know. Garak had taken a substantial risk involving himself at all, when he could have so easily turned a blind eye to the actions of his subordinates.

"I don't know how to thank you," Tareina said.

"You don't have to," Kira replied with a smile. "We're happy to do what we can."

"Besides," Bashir said, "You do deserve this."

"How long before we go?", the girl asked.

"You have a couple more weeks before we're finished with the treatments," Bashir replied. "So that long at least." He gave Kira a questioning look and she nodded.

"Garak said to give it about a month. I've been staying in contact with him, and he'll let us know when to go."

The girl nodded, still smiling.

"In the meantime," Bashir said, "You've got to get some rest."

"All right," Tareina agreed, still clutching the datapad, as if it were the most precious thing she owned.

Kira smiled at her before she and the doctor left and the girl grinned back. There she was, holding onto her new life, a life Dukat and his people had tried to deny her. A life Terak had unknowingly handed her when he had chased her into Federation space and brought Kira, and through her, Garak, into a chase that was supposed to be kept from his government.

This new life was no less than what she deserved.


	5. Chapter 5

5

The _Defiant_ crossed the border into Cardassian space, all sensors operating at peak capacity, scanning continually for ships. Kira stood on her bridge with Bashir and Taranna, watching as her helm officer manuevered them into the gravitational influence of a small moon that would help mask their warp signature.

She waited.

"Incoming hail, sir," the com reported, and Kira felt a distinct stab of relief.

"On screen," she ordered.

There was a moment before Garak's face appeared on the view screen, and when she saw him, Kira smiled. He smiled in return.

"Ah, Captain. So good to see you again. Are you ready?"

"Absolutely," Kira said with a smile. "Bashir and I will be beaming over as well."

"Of course," the Cardassian replied. "It would be a shame to have come all this way and not see each other face to face."

Kira smiled.

"We'll be there shortly."

She nodded at the com officer and the screen returned to its previous view of the barren moon rotating slowly beneath them.

"Ro, you have the bridge," she said to her security chief.

"Yes, sir," the other Bajoran replied as Kira, Bashir, and Taranna headed for the lift.

They made their way to the transporter room and, within moments, were standing on the bridge of Garak's personal ship. The Cardassian greeted both Kira and Bashir warmly, then looked back at the young woman standing just behind Kira. His eyes widened slightly and he turned his attention to Bashir.

"Doctor, your ability to work miracles never ceases to amaze me," he said.

"I do my best," Bashir replied with a half-smile, half-smirk.

They were interrupted by the appearance of two more Cardassians on the small bridge, and Kira realized fully what Garak meant. She came face to face with Alath and Eraas Deram for the first time, and was stunned by what Bashir had pulled off. Taranna looked remarkably like Alath, but Bashir had tweaked some of her features to resemble Eraas as well.

"Ah, here we are," Garak said. "Alath, Eraas, meet Taranna." He beckoned to the young woman and she stepped forward somewhat hesitantly. "My dear, your parents."

Both Eraas and Alath were smiling as they gripped Taranna's hand and bid her hello for the first time. The girl looked somewhat overwhelmed, and Kira could scarcely blame her.

"It's fortunate that my government suddenly needs the services of two of the Union's most prominent engineers," Garak said, his eyes twinkling.

"Who just happen to live on one of the border colonies," Kira said.

"And who happened to be friends of yours, which meant that you could come and personally see them back to Cardassia Prime," Bashir put in.

Garak nodded.

"It would be insulting of me to ask such distinguished professionals to arrange their own transport," he said.

"What about Gul Tekar?", Kira asked. "How are you going to keep him from accidentally meeting Taranna?"

Garak gave her a surprised look that she had come to know over the years; he wasn't surprised at all, and was delighting in what he was about to tell her.

"Why, Captain, didn't you hear? There was a terrible accident about ten days ago. Tekar's personal shuttle had an engine malfunction and was regretably destroyed."

Kira crossed her arms, shaking her head, fighting down the smile on her lips.

"What about the scientists in the Retros system?", Bashir asked.

"We've found some most fascinating dilithium deposits in a nearby system for some of them to study. Others have been quietly removed from their posts and imprisoned for war crimes."

"I take it the Cardassian people won't ever hear about that?", Kira asked.

"My dear Captain, I would hate to expose their research to other inquiring Cardassian minds, who may think that the idea, at least, is sound."

Kira knew that Garak meant that.

"Good," she said. "Now, we'd better be getting back to the _Defiant_ and out of here. The last thing we need is another Cardassian ship picking us up and wondering why we're meeting with you."

"Agreed," said Garak.

Kira turned to Taranna, who was standing with her new parents.

"Take care of yourself," she said with a smile.

Taranna nodded.

"I will," she said, then hesitated before stepping forward and giving Kira then Bashir each a brief hug. "Thank you for everything."

"You're welcome," Kira replied. "And I wouldn't be surprised if we met again someday."

Taranna smiled.

"I'd like that," she said.

Kira nodded and tapped her combadge.

"Kira to _Defiant_. Two to beam up."

The bridge of Garak's ship disappeared and was replaced by the familiar view of her own bridge. She took a moment to look at the view screen, at the image of the Cardassian ship hanging in space before them, then turned to her helm officer.

"Take us home," she said.


End file.
